1. 2019 LEGISLATIVE SUMMARY Mississippi School Boards Association
Legislative Update and School Law Review
April 23, 2019

2. House Bills
1,752 bills introduced in the House
214 bills assigned to Education
18 bills assigned to Appropriations
10 bills assigned to Ways & Means
9 bills signed into law

3. Senate Bills 1,123 bills introduced in the Senate
105 bills assigned to Education
11 bills assigned to Appropriations
7 bills assigned to Finance
5 bill signed into law

4. MSBA Legislative Priorities
MSBA Surveys All Board Members and Superintendents
Each Board Returns One Completed Survey
MSBA Tabulates and Identifies the Top Four Issues and Determines Issues to Support and Oppose

5. Fully Fund Public Education
HB 1643, the K-12 Funding Bill
Passed
At least 7 other bills were introduced
that in some way dealt with MAEP
funding. They all died.

6. Create a Structured Statewide Early Childhood Education
At least eight bills that dealt with mandatory kindergarten and/or preschool were introduced, and several attempts were made to amend legislation to include mandatory kindergarten.
They all died.

7. Allowing a Board Member to Be Removed from Office for Violating Accreditation and/or Ethics Standards
One bill was introduced that only dealt with appointed municipal district board members.
It died.

8. All School Boards Adopt a Board Member Code of Conduct
No bills were introduced to require
school boards to adopt a code
of conduct.

9. Support
Changing Average Daily Attendance (ADA) to Total Enrollment (ADM)
One bill was introduced that dealt
with changing from ADA to ADM.
It died.

10. Oppose Electing/appointing all school board members at the same time
2. Restricting local control of school
boards
3. Allowing student vouchers to be
funded with public funds

11. Oppose 4. Allowing income tax deduction for
parents who send their children to
private school or who home school
5. Allowing tax credit scholarships
providing scholarships to non-public
schools

12. Oppose 6. Allowing money to be diverted from
public schools to non-public schools,
home schools, or virtual schools
7. Allowing students attending a
C, D, or F school to transfer to an
A or B school

13. House Bills that Passed
HB Mississippi Dyslexia Forgivable
Loan Program
Authorizes loan forgiveness to individuals providing instructional or clinical service as a licensed dyslexia therapist in a public or eligible nonpublic school for the Mississippi Dyslexia Forgivable Loan Program

14. HB 572 Educator Use of Personal Leave
Allows an educator to take personal leave on the day before the first day of school, the last day of school, the day before a holiday, or the day after a holiday in the event of death or funeral of an immediate family member

15. HB 654 County School Board Trustees
Elections
Requires a runoff if no candidate receives the majority of votes cast in the election

16. HB 1182 Corporal Punishment
Prohibits the use of corporal punishment in public schools to discipline a student with a disability who has an IEP or a Section 504 plan

17. HB 1247 Community College’s Board of
Trustees
Removes the requirement for automatic appointment of a county superintendent of education to serve on a Community College Board of Trustees

18. HB 1283 The “Mississippi School Safety
Act of 2019”
Requires school employees to be trained on mental health issues every two years
Expands student access to mental health resources
Requires an annual inspection and threat assessment be conducted on each campus

19. HB 1283 The “Mississippi School Safety
Act of 2019”
Requires each campus to conduct an active shooter drill within the first 60 days of start of school
Requires all employees to attend Civilian Response to Active Shooter Events (CRASE) training annually

20. HB Eye Examinations
Requires that all children six and younger, whose eye screening indicates a need to have a face-to-face comprehensive eye examination, to have a comprehensive face-to-face eye examination before enrolling in public school for first time

21. HB 1643 Department of Education
Appropriation
Includes line item appropriations for the $1500 teacher pay raise
Includes funds to cover PERs increase in the MAEP formula

22. Senate Bills that Passed
SB School Enrollment
Allows students whose parents are in the military to enroll in a Mississippi school district based upon the parent's military orders for relocation to our state. The parent must provide proof of legal residence within ten days of arrival.

23. SB 2447 Career and Technical
Grants
Provides CTE grants through MDE and the State Workforce Investment Board (SWIB) to schools for students who earn qualifying industry certifications

24. SB 2449 Education of Students in Juvenile
Detention Facilities
Defines responsibility of home school district and the sponsoring school district to provide education for students in juvenile detention facilities and defines the school year
Requires local school districts to provide student records
Requires summer courses focusing on math and language arts for juvenile detention facility students

25. SB 2625 Mississippi School for the Arts
Provides that administrative and instructional employees at the MS School of the Arts be contract employees
Provides that noninstructional employees serve at the will and pleasure of the school superintendent
Provides that the purchases of equipment and commodities made by the school are exempt from the regulations of the Public Procurement Law

26. SB 2770 Teachers Salaries
Will give teachers and assistant teachers a $1,500 a year pay raise beginning with the 2019/2020 school year

27. SB 2928 Energy High School Academy Act
The Vicksburg-Warren School District and the Claiborne County Board of Education
Mississippi Development Authority, a nuclear facility, Warren County, and the State of Mississippi
To prescribe the membership of the Energy High School Academy Partnership Council to administer the academy

28. SB 3049 Department of Finance and
Administration, Appropriation
Was amended to transfer $2 million dollars to the Department of Education for Education Savings Accounts

29. Manager of Governmental Relations
Paul S. Chamblee
Manager of Governmental Relations
Mississippi School Boards Association
MSBA or
Cell